Tangled Hair
by November8th
Summary: Hermione Granger is a trainee at St. Mungo's Hospital. What happens when a trainee Healer has a bad hair day and a blind date... and gets assigned to horrible jobs? Well? Hermione's about to find out. Read and review. ONE-SHOT.


**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Summary:** Hermione Granger is a trainee at St. Mungo's Hospital. What happens when a trainee Healer has a bad hair day and a blind date? Well? She's about to find out. Read and review.

**xoxox**

Hermione Granger woke up to the sound of her cell phone ringing. She picked it up and pressed it to her ear opening her eyes groggily. She blinked in a daze wondering why her eyelids were so sticky and why she was on the floor.

"Hello," she said into the phone and touched her throbbing head, gingerly.

"Hermione Granger," Ginny Weasley's voice screamed, from the other end of the line, "You stood me and Luna up last night and I demand to know why this instant."

Hermione groaned as she remembered last night.

**Flashback:**

_Hermione looked at herself in the mirror. She was meeting her friends for a girl's night out, they were going clubbing. Hermione glared at her hair which was even bushier than usual thanks to the job she had been given at the Hospital that day._

"_Damn Lindy for giving me lab duty!" she thought angrily, and pulled out her wand._

_Unfortunately for her, she was not experienced enough in glamour spells to tame her hair. She pointed her wand at her hair, closed her eyes and muttered a spell under her breath. She opened her eyes up slowly and screamed when she saw her reflection._

_Her hair was tied into a hundred tiny braids and covered in colorful ribbons making her look like an overly wrapped up birthday present. _

"_Deep breaths Hermione," she said to herself, "Relax!"_

_Hermione let out a breath and pointed her wand at herself, once more, keeping her eyes open this time. She had barely uttered the spell when all of a sudden the phone rang. She jumped startled and finished the incantation in a flurry, not realizing that she had said the wrong words. Her eyes widened as a pair of fake eyelashes flew out of her drawer and towards her, along with a tube of glue. She screamed as they attached themselves to her eyes making it impossible for her to blink. _

_She closed her eyes painstakingly, and then let out another scream when she couldn't re-open them. The phone was still ringing insistently. Hermione moved forward, her arms flailing wildly and tripped landing on the floor with a loud thud. She groaned and blacked out._

**End Flashback**

Hermione was in trouble and she knew it. Ginny Weasley was a force to be reckoned with, when she was angry.

"I'm going to pay so badly for this," she thought frantically and opened her mouth to explain.

Unfortunately, Ginny was faster, "I don't care what your excuse was this time! This is the third time you've missed our girl's night!" Ginny continued talking, "Luckily for you, me and Luna thought up a punishment for you last night – when _you_ were not there!"

Hermione winced guiltily and said, "I'm sorry, Gin, but I messed up a spell last night and fainted! That's a plausible excuse. Surely, you can't punish me for that!"

"Watch me!" was all she got in return. She could almost feel Ginny smirk as she continued, "Remember what I talked to you about last Friday?"

"Today's Monday," thought Hermione," And we talked about my… love life last Friday!" she gasped lightly thinking of what Ginny could be up to and shuddered.

"Maybe it's not too late," she thought in vain, as she said, "Gin, come on. You…"

"Too late Mione, this was the third time," she continued, "Now you'll pay - by going on a blind date that Luna and I set up for you."

Ginny meant well but Hermione didn't see how this would help her, none of the guys she'd dated had ever been able to carry out an intelligent conversation.

"But…," Hermione tried again but was cut off by Ginny once more.

"Sorry Mione I have to go now, I'll meet you at 6:30 PM to help you get ready for your date. Don't think about playing truant, or I'll never talk to you again! Bye." And the line went dead.

Admitting defeat, Hermione looked at the clock and found out it was 7:45 AM so she headed towards the bathroom to get ready for work which started at 10:00 AM

In the bathroom, she looked at the mess which was her hair in the mirror. She stared at her reflection noticing her red eyes - all thanks to the glue. The rest of her still looked the same. She was still 5 foot 8 with a lithe and somewhat curvy frame. Her hair was still chestnut brown but very very messy and her eyes a chocolate brown but rimmed red.

"Thank Merlin Ginny called me now or I would have never been able to get rid of this mess," she thought.

She knew that she wouldn't be able to get rid of the mess by magic since her skills in glamour spells weren't as proficient as most girl's were. The only way was to untie all the ribbons and unbraid every single braid.

"This going to take my whole life!" she wailed in frustration but started working on her hair anyways.

xoxox

**One hour and 45 minutes later**

"Finally," Hermione screamed out in joy when she was done unbraiding and untying her hair. Now the only thing she needed to do was tame her mane of hair... somehow.

She looked at her clock again and realized she had only 45 minutes to get ready and apparate to work.

"Shit!" she cried and hurried to wash up and change into her purple work robes. Hermione was a Trainee Healer at St. Mungo's. She would get her degree and be a fully qualified Healer in two years when she turned 21.

As soon as Hermione was dressed in her work robes, she tied her hair intop a bun the best she could and apparated to St. Mungo's, with a granola bar in her mouth.

When she reached the receptionist she was handed three files with different cases inside. The Healers were always handing Trainees cases they could not be bothered to deal with themselves. She shook her head and rushed off to her first one as quickly as possible.

On her way to the ward she read the files and felt her granola bar threatening to make reappearance. She was required to pull a hair pin out of a man's toenail. Apparently, his wife had magically poked it there by mistake during a fight.

The second case was a child with a really bad bout of dragon pox and an even worse cold.

The third and final case was a woman who had turned one of her arms inside out and was in agony. Hermione grimaced as she read.

"Great," she muttered under her breath, "Just what I needed: a moody man, a screaming, whining kid and an agonized woman."

The man turned out to be as moody as she had expected and only answered in grunts to all her questions. This made her madder than ever.

The kid was even worse she imagined. She thought he would be tired and drowsy because of the cold but he turned out to be overly energetic and happy for a seven year old kid with a runny nose.

She talked to him and found that he had a very vivid imagination and believed in everything from monsters to aliens. She was about to give him his medicine when she realized it was the un- flavored and the boy wouldn't like it so she turned towards the cabinet to take out the strawberry flavored one. She didn't notice her rubber band, finally, snapping under the pressure and her hair falling down her back and over her shoulders like a lion's mane.

She didn't even hear the kid gasp when she turned, walked towards him and tried to feed him the medicine. The kid, however, showed his first sign of magic by setting her hair on fire, thinking that she was a murderous lion which had eaten the nice Healer.

The boy screamed. Hermione saw the flames of the fire and screamed, "Fire!" A nurse came in and screamed at the sight. Healer Davis, Hermione's Senior, came in and screamed, "STOP!"

The boy stopped screaming. The nurse stopped screaming. The healer pointed her wand at Hermione and said,"Aguamenti!" Hermione stopped screaming.

The Healer took in deep breaths, stopped herself from screaming and said as calmly as she could,"Ms. Granger please wait at the reception desk for me."

Hermione decided it was better not to argue with the little boy and left the room, grateful for an excuse to leave.

Healer Davis walked up to the reception after tending to the boy and leaving the nurse in charge of him.

"I'm terribly sorry for the mess I created…," Hermione started the speech she had been rehearsing, while waiting for the Healer.

"It's OK, Ms. Granger, I got the idea," she said, "Now let's fix that hair of yours."

"I don't know what happened… what?" said Hermione.

Healer Davis shook her head at Hermione and started talking about a spell which would be sure to transform Hermione's hair into soft cascading curls at least an hour or so. Then she sent Hermione of to finish her last job before she could leave for home.

Fortunately for Hermione the last case was not as bad as the rest because it only took a simple spell to fix the lady's arm.

xoxox

Hermione reached home at 6:13 PM and switched on the lights only to scream and topple over when she saw Ginny going through her wardrobe. Ginny turned around when Hermione screamed and screamed as well when she saw the state of Hermione's hair.

"Oh no, I am so not starting this again," said Hermione remembering the screaming episode from earlier today.

"Hermione Granger," said Ginny, "Did you do that to get out of this blind date? And what do you mean by again?"

"It's a long story and of course not," Hermione scoffed.

"Though that's a good idea," she thought wistfully.

Ginny looked at her suspiciously. Hermione sighed, pointed her wand at her hair and said, "Crepes durs." Her hair transformed into soft curls that cascaded down her back just as Healer Davis had promised. Too bad she had forgotten that the spell would break after two hours.

"Wow!" Ginny breathed.

"I know!" Hermione smiled proudly at having completed a glamour spell successfully and then her expression changed, "All I want now is to know why you were poking through my things?" Hermione asked.

Ginny rolled her eyes at her.

"I was looking for something for you to wear and - no - you can not get out of it."

Hermione's face fell.

"I'm sorry Mione but your nineteen years old and you need a social life."

"Fine," said Hermione, giving in, and settled down on the chair to be attacked by Ginny, "But only this once!"

One hour later at 7:20 PM Hermione was dressed in a black dress which reached a bit below her knees and had more makeup on than ever before in her life. Ginny had decided to leave Hermione's hair as it was since it looked good.

Ginny looked at her and said, "You look gorgeous, even Malfoy will admit it."

"Malfoy?" asked Hermione suspiciously, "What does he have to do with anything?"

"Oh, nothing," said Ginny looking as if she had been caught stealing cookies.

"Now you better apparate to the restaurant like a good girl," she continued hurriedly.

Hermione turned on the spot and apparated onto a pavement outside a fancy restaurant.

xoxox

She walked into the restaurant and looked for a blond man, sitting alone, with a red rose just as Ginny told her to do. She found him - he looked to be tall, around 6 feet, even when sitting and very muscled, not in a beefy wrestler way, but strong and slender. His hair was platinum blond and falling into his eyes.

She started walking over. He looked up as she came and recognition passed over his face. She noticed his eyes were gray and thought that he looked familiar.

"Didn't know you were this desperate Granger?" he asked with a smirk.

All of a sudden Hermione remembered all the times she hade seen that smirk at Hogwarts.

"Malfoy!" she said in astonishment. She had not seen Malfoy since the war two years ago in their seventh year when he had changed sides and aided the light side.

"The one and only," he said smirking again.

"I can't believe Ginny set me up with you," she said just as Draco said, "I can't believe Blaise let his crazy girlfriend set me up with you"

Hermione glared at him and said, "Hey! Don't talk about Luna like that!"

"Whatever," he said, "Come on I'm hungry."

She sat down hesitantly and he motioned towards the waiter. They both ordered their meals and the waiter left.

"I wonder what Harry and Ron would think if they could see me now," Hermione thought.

"Why'd you agree to this Granger?" Draco asked curiously.

"Ginny threatened me," Hermione sighed heavily, "You?"

"Blaise did the same," Draco grinned at Hermione and she smiled back reluctantly.

"So what are you doing now, Malfoy?"

"I'm training to be an Auror," he answered as the waiter put their food in front of them, "You?"

"I'm training to be a Healer. Harry has never mentioned you. Do you guys get along?"

Draco looked at her contemplatively, "I guess you could say that," he said finally, "So what have you been up to for the past few years? Oh let me guess! Reading?"

Hermione glared at him and was surprised when Draco started laughing.

"I was just kidding," Draco said chuckling, "So, really, I heard that you, Potter and Weasley travelled for a while after Hogwarts?"

Hermione smiled, "Yeah we did. We went all over Europe and we also went to Australia. But you were right I read most of the time."

Draco looked at her incredulously, "You were in a foreign country and you read books the whole time."

Hermione laughed, "I was kidding Malfoy."

By 8:15 PM, with five minutes left until her hair unraveled itself, they were finished with dinner and were now talking about Hogwarts after having tired out nearly every topic possible. They were both pleasantly surprised to find that they were enjoying each others company.

When the clock hit 8:20 PM Hermione felt a tingle go down her spine before her hair suddenly stood up on her hair going wildly in every direction. Draco started laughing. Hermione glared at him. He conjured a mirror and showed her what she looked like. She burst into laughter when she saw that she looked like a beautifully made up doll whose some child had toyed with or maybe a make-over experiment gone wrong.

Draco calmed down and got Hermione to as well after he told her that the other people were watching them. She glared at him daring him to laugh again. He did not look like he was going to laugh; instead he seemed deep in thought. After five minutes he spoke.

"Maybe this will work," he said and muttered a spell. Immediately Hermione's hair turned to the way it was before the incident.

"Thanks Draco," she said gloomily. She was very embarrassed at being caught in a situation like this by Draco Malfoy.

"Any time," he replied, "Let's go."

He got up, helped her off her chair and they left together. They exited the resturaunt and started walking towards a park in the distance.

"You know that's permanent," Draco said conversationally. She nodded her thanks.

"Draco, are you gay?" she asked all of a sudden.

"Why would you think that?" he asked trying to sound normal but still sounding curious.

"It's just that you know a spell to calm my hair permanently when no one else, not even Ginny, did," she said wringing her hands.

"My mom," he said simply, as if that answered everything. In a way it did but she motioned for him to continue anyways.

He sighed and said, "My mother, has always wanted a daughter but since she didn't have one she made do with me when I was young and taught me glamour spells. She said and I quote 'Draco, honey, I promise it'll come in handy'."

Hermione smiled at him and sat down on a bench - they were now in the park, "So you're not gay?"

"No," Draco answered confidently, sitting down next to her, "Do you think a gay guy would be as fit as me?"

Hermione looked at him as if contemplating. There was no doubt that Draco Malfoy was gorgeous but she didn't want to inflate his ego even more by telling him. Draco raised an eyebrow at her and looked down at his pocket when his phone suddenly rang, he pulled it out flipped it open, putting it to his ear.

"Blaise," he drawled and paused for a while, listening attentively to Blaise.

"Yeah, mate," he said after a while, his voice smooth, "I want you to thank your girlfriend for setting me up on this date. My date has to be the most beautiful and intelligent woman I've ever met." Draco grinned at a blushing Hermione and closed his cell phone.

"So Granger…" he said trailing off, "What did you think?"

Hermione smiled shyly, her cheeks still crimson, "I think you're a smooth operator."

Draco laughed and put his hand under her chin tilting it upwards. He looked in her shining brown eyes and leant forward to kiss.

**The End**

**xoxox**

Review and let me know what you think.


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